Auditors in one local authority (LA) have raised major concerns over
financial malpractice and issued a warning that the rise in the number of academies is likely to make the problem worse.
Following a “robust” audit, Brent Council is concerned about financial management in six out of 10 schools it checked. Some of its primary schools had been locked into “toxic” equipment deals which tempt schools into entering costly agreements to lease equipment by offering a “cash-back”. Others are paying heads an average of £10,000 a year more than they should.
According to the
TES, Brent Council spends more time checking the finances of its maintained schools than any of the 20 London councils with published audit plans for 2012/13. Brent tightened up its auditing after an alleged £2.7 million fraud case involving Copland Community School in 2009. The Copland case reaches the Crown Court in October.
But Brent Council’s finance director told TES that academy expansion is likely to make financial mismanagement worse. “The only watchdog over them is the Department for Education itself. We [the Local Authority] have no relationship with them, but who does?”
Incoming president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Hank Roberts, the whistleblower who drew attention to the financial problems at Copland, told TES that the misuse of taxpayers’ money is already widespread and “with more schools becoming financially autonomous academies, [the problem] will get infinitely worse.”
The TES wrote that the Department for Education was unavailable to comment.
Comments
It's more likely that a proper set of governors (as opposed to LA stooges) will ensure they get better.
Schools and governors have little interest in accounts. They care about kids. They need to be harried to keep things in good order and to take on board all the new accounting standards.
What's so special about an Academy that it's going to be able to have a 'proper' set of governors? They will still need to be drawn from exactly the same local community as governors of maintained schools.
You are falling into the trap of believing Gove's rhetoric - Academy good, Maintained school bad. There is nothing inherent in the Academy governance that will make governance stronger.
Why would you think that Ricky? And why are you insulting volunteers and people who care about anything other than their own bank account? Don't you believe in the big society?
As Brent's example clearly shows, LA run schools very often have poor accounting.
Academy governors jolly well do have an interest in accounts. They are personally responsible. They are the directors of the "business" and have the same fiduciary responsibilities as company directors or charity trustees.
So, a Conservative councillor in a council which has recommended that all its schools become academies said there needs to be local accountability because governance arrangements are too loose.
http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2012/04/reflections-on-the-priory/
I think he thinks we're all stupid and that he's arrived to rescue us from our ignorance with the James Maxwell 'the pursuit of money is the route to all good things' philosophy of life which contradicts all established wisdom and evidence.
Yes, and those are the sort of people who serve on academy boards. As opposed to LA stooges.
I assume 'governor' will now be a professional role for an accountant then rather than something for a long term parent, a retired teacher or a senior member of the community then? Is it a good idea to replace highly experienced volunteers who understand the school and the community with professional accountants? I can see the benefits but what about all the costs - both financial and in terms of lost governors of the old type. Have these costs been calculated?
No Ricky, some LA schools run by their governors and headteacher sometimes have poor accounting. Most of the time most clearly do not.
"Academy governors jolly well do have an interest in accounts."
No doubt especially their own in some cases.
"They are personally responsible. They are the directors of the “business” and have the same fiduciary responsibilities as company directors or charity trustees."
All £10 pounds worth of it.
You shouldn't rely on propaganda from Gove.
http://www.wellerslawgroup.com/site/services_business/academy_conversion...
Could you provide a link to evidence in support of this assertion?
What counts as a 'tough area' anyhow?
I assume ‘governor’ will now be a professional role for an accountant then ..
Please would you explain why you make this outlandish assumption?
Direct experience - again and again and again. If you are teaching in a school in a very tough area (with a socially deprived catchment) the parents are also part of that population Ricky. Do you not understand that not all school catchments have educated, professional and confident parents who speak fluent English in them?
"Please would you explain why you make this outlandish assumption?"
Just by understanding the difference between the skills set you're assuming the local population have and reality.
http://www.wellerslawgroup.com/site/services_business/academy_conversion...
So, if Governors act in good faith and let the Principal enter into questionable contracts as described above they would not be liable.
The DfE must ensure trustees comply with their legal obligations to manage a school which is an exempt charity. A principal regulator can ask the Charities Commission to open an inquiry, if necessary, but cannot do the investigation. The DfE must work with the Charities Commission to ensure that all its exempt charities are accountable to the public.
It is unclear how the DfE will ensure that 1,800 academies, 8,000 foundation schools and 94 sixth form college corporations in England* which are regulated by Secretary of State for Education will be “accountable to the public.” And the National Audit Office* is concerned there may be a conflict of interest between departmental interest and charity regulation.
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Publications/cc23.aspx#exempt
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/start_up_a_charity/do_i_need_to_regi...
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/about_us/ogs/g057a001.aspx#_Toc2131...
*National Audit Office Briefing for the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, July 2012: “Regulating Charities: a landscape review” downloadable from:
http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1213/regulating_charities.aspx
It's really hard for most people who work in education to begin to fathom the depravity of Michael Gove because it's natural for people to use their own standards as their frame of reference for their assumptions about others.
Where does Gove get his personal fortune from?
Why is he in power?
Where are the systems and processes he'll be using to ensure academies apply all the latest accounting standards?
Why is he in power?
Well, there's this thing called democracy.....
Where are the systems and processes he’ll be using to ensure academies apply all the latest accounting standards?
It's called the Academies Accounts Direction and is downloadable from the DfE website.
You call it democracy, I call it the extreme ignorance and stupidity of David Cameron.
And how's it being enacted in reality?
Oh yes - re point 2 you could add Gove's own extreme self-delusion, hubris and ignorance.
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